Indonesian government reviews, suspends nickel smelter development program

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) plans to review policies that suspend or restrict the operation of nickel refining and processing facilities in Indonesia.The Deputy Minister said that the moratorium program needs to be reassessed due to the industry's consideration of the demand for nickel products. No measures have been taken to suspend the construction of the RKEF nickel smelter in the country. The Director General of Mines and Coal mentioned that the restriction or moratorium was considered before, but it is still being evaluated whether it needs to be implemented or not. Indonesia is the world's top nickel producer, accounting for 23% of global reserves, with total resources of 17.7 billion tons of ore and reserves of 5.2 billion tons of ore, with undeveloped areas including Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua provinces.